Mystics Insider Blog

Guest Contributor – Andrew Willett

The Washington Mystics reached All-Star weekend victorious and in prime position for a playoff push after the break. In the Mystics’ lone game of the week, it took down Atlanta behind an impressive performance from Elena Delle Donne (EDD) and a dominant fourth quarter. With the win, Washington improved to 14-10 to sit fifth in the standings, 3 games ahead of sixth and 3 games out of first place.

With the All-Star festivities in Chicago, the Mystics could rest and gear back up for five days aside from now two-time All-Star Ariel Atkins. She participated in not only the 2022 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game but also in this year’s 3-Point Contest. Atkins’ team, Team Wilson beat out Team Stewart 134-112, and she advanced to the 3-PT Contest Finals to finish as the runner-up.

Dream Performance 3.0

The Mystics responded to an overtime loss at the Connecticut Sun (14-8) in a big way at the Atlanta Dream (10-12), but not before shaking off the rust. Washington got out to an early 12-4 deficit and trailed 34-29 with 2:30 to play in the first half. But the team woke up with an 8-0 run in the first period and a dominant 14-2 run from the end of the second into the third quarter to give Washington a seven-point lead.

Washington was not done going on massive scoring runs, though. The game came as close as 53-52 prior to Washington exploding to a 16-4 run preceding a 16-2 to close the game. The Mystics dominated the fourth quarter 27-12 to ultimately win 85-66, finishing the game on a 56-32 run over the final 22:30 of action. The dominant fourth-quarter effort gave Washington its third consecutive 18+ point victory against Atlanta.

While five Mystics hit double-digits, the EDD show took full effect down the stretch. It seemed as though she responded every time Washington needed a basket throughout, scoring 26 points and grabbing eight rebounds on 10/17 shooting and 2/4 from three. She secured the victory by scoring seven points over the final three minutes. Delle Donne’s 26 points made for a season-high and equaled the most points she put up in one outing since September 3, 2019. EDD hit double-figure scoring for the 13th time, 20+ points for the fourth time, and notched 15+ points and 5+ rebounds for the 10th time this season. The performance pushed her to 16 points per game (PPG) to lead the Mystics and up to 11th in the WNBA. She returned to lead the team in both points and rebounds after missing the Connecticut game and Washington improved to 5-2 when she leads the team in scoring and 11-4 with her in the lineup.

Natasha Cloud tallied 13 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists as she still sits atop the league in assists per game (APG) at 7.1. Atkins finished with 10 points to extend her streak of double-figure scoring games to 12 straight as she has hit 10+ points in 22 of 24 games this season to tie for the WNBA lead. Aside from EDD, Washington found its way thanks to the stellar play of its bench, particularly Myisha Hines-Allen and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough who combined to score 26 of Washington’s 28 bench points. Hines-Allen continues to find her footing as she scored 14 points and collected six boards to improve her averages to 8.3 PPG and 5 rebounds per game (RPG). She and Walker-Kimbrough, who scored a season-high 12 points, played with terrific energy and excellent, physical defense combining for three steals. Alysha Clark chipped in 7 and played tremendous defense with a steal and a block while limiting All-Star rookie Rhyne Howard to just 10 points on 5/13 shooting.

Atlanta fell by five, 20, 18, and 19 in the four matchups, respectively. Howard scored 21 points in the teams’ first meet up, followed by 0, 5, and 10 in the three blowout losses for Altanta. Locking up Howard meant locking up Atlanta as the Dream averaged only 63.3 PPG over the final three matchups and it missed all 12 three-point attempts last time out. Washington outscored Atlanta 42-36 in the paint to improve to 13-5 when winning the points in the paint battle. And in holding Atlanta to 66 points, the Mystics improved to a perfect 7-0 on the year when holding its opponents to less than 70 points.

Meanwhile, the Washington offense put some pieces together over the final two Atlanta matchups, dropping a jaw-dropping offensive performance in a 92-74 victory in the third matchup before scoring 85 last games. After claiming the season series for a fourth consecutive season (2019-2022), the Mystics also took a season sweep for the third time in four seasons (2019, 2020, 2022). Washington took its sixth consecutive win and its ninth consecutive home win over the Dream and won its 12th over the last 13 matchups.

All in the Numbers + Looking Ahead

Washington comfortably sits fifth in the WNBA standings with 12 games left to play prior to the playoffs. So, these numbers explain how the Mystics controlled its playoff destiny as a contender. The Mystics sit atop the league in scoring defense at 75.5 PPG allowed as well as second in the league with a 95.1 defensive efficiency rating. This gives Washington a net rating of +4.7 and places the team as one of five teams to record a positive net rating and positive plus/minus at +4.1. Washington sits in the top-six in assist percentage (68.5%), assist to turnover ratio (1.44), assist ratio (18.2) and turnover percentage (17.7%). It also rebounds in the top half of the league with a rebound rate of 50.4%, an offensive rebound percentage of 28% and a defensive rebound percentage of 73.3%.

Over 24 games, Washington proved itself as a top team in the WNBA and can secure a playoff spot with a strong finish. Post All-Star Break, the Mystics return to action with a three-game slate featuring two road games vs. the Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury before facing the Minnesota Lynx in what will be Sylvia Fowles’ last game in Washington.